Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dispensing and more particularly to an improved dispensing cup for receiving aerosol product from an aerosol device.
Description of the Related Art
An aerosol dispenser comprises an aerosol product and an aerosol propellant contained within an aerosol container. An aerosol valve is provided to control the discharge of the aerosol product from the aerosol container through the fluid pressure provided by the aerosol propellant. The aerosol valve is biased into a closed position. A valve stem cooperates with the aerosol valve for opening the aerosol valve. An actuator engages with the valve stem to open the aerosol valve for dispensing the aerosol product from the aerosol container.
Some aerosol dispensers incorporate a dispensing vessel receiving the aerosol product from the aerosol container for subsequent dispensing thereafter from the dispensing vessel. The following US Patents are examples of the aerosol devices of the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,714 to Bates discloses a device adapted to be placed on a container of liquids. The device comprises a stationary piston element, a cylinder element reciprocal thereon with a conduit extending from the cylinder into the liquid container. An air valve is unseated by the top end of the conduit when the cylinder is depressed. A conduit overflow sleeve on the piston element determines the amount of liquid-charge. An internal sleeve carried by the cylinder reciprocal between the conduit and the overflow sleeve has an opening above into the cylinder. A drain opening extends from the sleeve into the conduit, and a passage from the lower part of the cylinder extends to a point of liquid discharge outside the device. A resilient synthetic resin split ring packing provides a seal between the piston element and the cylinder while a spring provides the means to raise the cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,224 to Blann discloses a dispenser for fingernail treating liquid comprising a closed vessel containing fingernail treating liquid. A valve is carried by the vessel and extends into the top of the vessel. An actuating pad is carried by the valve for opening the valve when pressure is applied to advance it toward the vessel. A spray nozzle is carried by the vessel and is operatively connected to the valve for directing spray of liquid across the top of the vessel and onto the nail of a finger pressing on the pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,454 to Micallef discloses a measuring cup for pressurized containers having a downwardly movable discharge valve operating member in an end wall. A tubular sleeve extends downwardly from the bottom wall of the cup. The bottom end of the sleeve is shaped to engage the valve operating member and surrounds the discharge opening of the container. The tubular sleeve extends above the bottom of the cup. Discharge passages are in the wall of the sleeve adjacent to the inner face of the bottom wall of the cup. A closure for the end of the sleeve has a flange extending substantially beyond the wall of the sleeve and has at its outer edge an unbroken flat surface contacting the bottom wall of the cup. An annular groove is within the flat surface and the discharge passages in the sleeve opens into the groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,567 to Abplanalp discloses a device for dispensing liquid from an aerosol container having a tubular valve stem extending outwardly through an opening in the container. The device comprises a hollow holder for immovably supporting and extending outwardly from the container. A receptacle is positioned within the holder provides at its bottom a socket to receive the valve stem of the container. A passage exists between the socket and the interior of the receptacle. The receptacle is movable within the holder to enable depression of the valve stem for the purpose of delivering liquid from the container into the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,567 to Mattes, et al. discloses a dispensing cap device for a pressurized can of lubricant material particularly adapted for applying lubricant to the tip of an absorbent tampon. The can is of the type which includes an axially disposed dispensing tube projecting through the top closure of the can. The tube has a central discharge opening therein controlled by a depressible valve disposed within the can. The top closure of the can has an annular bead for seating the cap. The cap comprises a hollow outer member, a cover for the outer member and an inner member disposed within the outer member in a vertical slidable relationship. The lower portion of the outer member is provided with a means to engage and hold the cap on the bead. The inner member has a shell like structure having formed a cylindrical cup of a size adapted to receive the end of a tampon body. The bottom wall of the cup is penetrated by an axially extending aperture. The upper surface of the bottom wall has spaced grooves extending radially outward from the aperture. The lower surface of the bottom wall has an axially disposed socket in which the aperture is centered and which is adapted to engage the dispensing tube and permits vertical movement of the inner member within the outer member while restricting rotational movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,794 to Stratford, et al. discloses a dosing device for fluid which comprises a dip tube extension situated within a dosage cup. The extension is constructed to enable fluid to pass from within the extension into the dosage cup and a dosage determining sleeve slidably engaging a side wall of the extension and movable relative to the extension between positions enabling retention within the cup of a selected dosage volume of fluid and return of any excess fluid into said extension.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,332 to Kutik, et al. discloses a present pump having a manually operated cup frictionally coupled to a floating valve to dispense liquid or other fluent product from a container. The floating valve coacts with the cup and the pump housing to control: (1) the inlet flow of product from a dip tube in the container up into the pump; (2) the outlet flow of product from the pump to a discharge spout; and (3) the connection of an air vent opening to the inside of the container at the top at the proper time in each pumping cycle. The pump housing has a circular recess on the bottom for a snap fit on a complementary support bead, such as on the top lid of the container itself. A discharge selector valve on the discharge spout enables the selection of either a droplet spray discharge or a continuous flowing stream discharge from the pump. The pump cup carries an end cap which may be removed for use as a scrub brush. The pump housing has a removable end cap with a depending rib which coacts with the cup to determine the volumetric capacity of the pump. The pump may be assembled to a measuring cup adapted to be mounted on top of the product container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,099 to Pizzurro, et al. discloses a cup-shaped, doubled-walled cup for a pressurized aerosol dispenser for the dispensing of a foam product as a wad or pad including providing a venting path through the cup-shaped surface of the cup, through the space defined by the cup-shaped surface and an outer cylindrical wall and beneath the outer wall to the outside of the container when the cup is mounted in position on the container. An inner cylindrical wall suitable for affixing the cup to the outside of the bead formed by the mouth of the container and the mounting cup resiliently urges the cup toward valve closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,656 to Lasner discloses a fluid container with a removably attached dosage dispenser receptacle in which the container is provided with a pump for pumping up fluid to the receptacle in predetermined dosages. An opening in the receptacle is aligned with the pump outlet conduit so that fluid can be pumped directly through the outlet conduit to the receptacle in predetermined amounts, and the dispenser can be detached from the container for use when required.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,553 to Weinstein discloses a liquid metered dispensing container of the squeezable type. The squeezable container has an opening for dispensing liquid therefrom at one end and a bottom at the other end. A non-flexible trap chamber is connected to the opening and extends outwardly therefrom. The trap chamber has a lower end inserted into the container opening and has an inlet orifice extending from the lower end into the container. The inlet orifice is adapted to receive a dip tube which is attached thereto and extends close to or at the bottom of the container. The trap chamber has an upper end with a dispensing orifice. This is small enough to prevent dripping of liquid therefrom by gravity when the bottle is inverted but is large enough to dispense liquid therefrom when the bottle itself is squeezed. A one way valve is connected to the lower end of the trap chamber which permits liquid to flow from the container to the trap chamber but not vice versa. The trap chamber may have indicia so that exact dosage levels of different amounts may be squeezed into the chamber, or the chamber itself may have a single, predetermined volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,632 to Murakami, et al. discloses a measuring cap which is attached onto a squeezable bottle, and can extract a desirable amount of liquid inside the bottle into the measuring chamber of the cap by squeezing the body of the bottle. The measuring cap consists of cap main body, inner plug, and supply pipe. The cap main body integrally constituted by the bottle neck engaging wall is a measuring chamber constituted by the circumferential wall of measuring chamber and top wall which forms a pouring mouth at an upper portion, and an upper cap which has a bung that can close the pouring mouth. The inner plug has a discharging pipe and an engaging circumferential wall which engages to the circumferential walls of the measuring chamber, and the discharging pipe and engaging circumferential wall is constituted by being connected with the bottom wall of measuring chamber. The measuring cap is assembled by engaging the inner plug to the cap main body by inserting from below, and engaging the supply pipe to the lower end of the discharging pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,569 to Sandwell discloses a squeezable container for containing liquids provided with a transparent measuring cap into which the container's contents can be dispensed by squeezing the container in an upright position. Through a discharging pipe liquid is transported from the container into the measuring space, the bottom of which is formed by an inner plug. To maintain accurate dosing, the transparent measuring cap is detachably connected to the container for cleaning purposes while leaving the plug and the discharging pipe in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,930 to Kalabakas discloses a dispensing device for dispensing a measured volume of liquid from a body of liquid contained in a container, which includes a receptacle for receiving an unmeasured excess volume of liquid from the body of liquid and a conduit to connect the container to the receptacle. The conduit permits liquid to flow from the body of liquid into the receptacle when a reduced pressure is created in the receptacle. The device further includes a lid to fit over the receptacle so as to be displaceable relative to the receptacle from a closed position to a dispensing position, the arrangement being such that relative displacement between the lid and receptacle can create a pressure differential between the container and the receptacle to cause liquid to flow from the body of liquid in the container to the receptacle. A part of the conduit serves to adjust the unmeasured excess volume of liquid in the receptacle to the measured volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,367 to Harrold discloses a metered liquid squeezable dispenser, which includes a squeezable container having an open end and neck for dispensing liquid. A trap chamber base non-rotatably attached to the container and a trap chamber is rotatably attached to the trap chamber base. A dip tube is located in the base and extends into the container. There is an air inlet orifice located on the base. The trap chamber has a dispensing outlet, at least one metered dosage inlet pipe passing through the bottom of the trap chamber, extending upwardly therefrom for a predetermined height, and an air pipe passing through its bottom. The base and trap chamber align with one another for squeeze, metered dose filling, and then rotational realignment for squeeze dispensing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,967 to Sperna Weiland discloses an assembly comprising a flexible container in which liquid can be stored and a dosing device connected to the container for dispensing liquid from the container in a dosed manner. The dosing device comprises a filling chamber and means for filling the filling chamber from the container at a selectively settable filling height by squeezing the container. The filling chamber comprises a filling chamber bottom, a vertical sidewall and at least a first and a second channel which each extends upwards from the filling chamber bottom of the filling chamber and each has an inflow opening and an outflow opening. The dosing device further comprises a base bottom connected to the container, the entire filling chamber being rotatably mounted on the base bottom. The base bottom is provided with a through-flow opening which, via a feed line, is in fluid connection with the inner space of the container, while the inflow opening of the first or second channel can selectively be brought into fluid connection with the through-flow opening by rotation of the filling chamber relative to the base bottom.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,960 to Faughey, et al. discloses a flexible container for dispensing liquids capable of providing precise dosage of the liquid. The container comprises an upper liquid reservoir and a lower liquid reservoir separated by a gasket, a longitudinal tube extending through the gasket and comprising a slot, and a dispensing tip having a longitudinal sleeve extending therefrom that also comprises a slot and is disposed concentrically around the upper end of the longitudinal tube. Liquid may be transferred from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir by the application of pressure on the lower reservoir while the two slots are aligned. In a preferred embodiment, the container is rendered child-resistant through the provision of a cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,071 to Anderson, et al. discloses an apparatus for measuring and dispensing liquid from a container includes a measuring chamber having an inlet connected to the opening of the container. A cap member is rotatably attached to the measuring chamber. The cap member includes a dispensing outlet and a fill level member. A liquid delivery member is in fluid communication with the measuring chamber and the container. The fill level member is operatively associated with the liquid delivery member to deliver liquid from the container to the measuring chamber. By compressing the container, a volume of liquid is retained within the measuring chamber from flowing back into the container by the fill level member. The measured portion of liquid retained in the measuring chamber is available for dispensing from the dispensing outlet. A method for measuring and dispensing a measured portion of liquid from a container is also disclosed.
United States Patent Application 2008/0308183 to Law discloses one embodiment of a satellite dosing system including a closure that is attached to a container in combination with a dosing module that is removable from the remainder of the closure for the dispensing of a volume of liquid product at the point of use.
United States Patent Application 2011/0284578 to Wong discloses an oil and flavoring pot including a pot body having a measuring cup and a handle. A liquid squeezing structure is disposed on a pot lid and capacity value and a residue recycling structure is formed on a cup wall. The liquid squeezing structure could press the flavoring into the measuring cup by one time or sequence times, and the operation could stop at any time. The amount of the flavoring could be read at any time. When the amount reaches to target, the operation of the liquid squeezing structure could be stopped and the target amount of flavoring is obtained, therefore facilitating to control and know the feeding amount. After use, the residue liquid flows to the groove along wall of the spout, and flows into the measuring cup through the cup slot, therefore keep the pot body clean. Furthermore, the pot is conveniently operated by a single hand.
It is an object of the present invention to improve upon the above art to provide a dispensing cup for an aerosol device that provides a significant advancement to the aerosol dispensing art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing cup for an aerosol device wherein the aerosol device is actuated by the dispensing cup.
Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing cup for an aerosol device having a reduced number of parts.
Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing cup for an aerosol device that includes a lock for inhibiting actuation of the aerosol device by the dispensing cup.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed as being merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention with in the scope of the invention. Accordingly other objects in a full understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment of the invention.